Sunstar Of Windclan
by HalfSun
Summary: Sunstar is nothing like his father, the terrible Moonclaw, who everycat knew and feared while he was alive. But does his clan feel the same way, or will they cast him out like they did to Moonclaw?
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Run, Sunstar, run!" Tigerfur's panicked shriek split the air.

Sunstar looked behind him and saw that an enormous brown dog was after him. Sunstar got to his paws and sprinted across the moore.

He could feel the dog's hot breath on his tail. Sunstar glanced behind himself and saw that the dog was almost on top of him. He felt a sharp pain in his tail as the dog grabbed it. Sunstar felt his breath being knocked out of him as the dog swiped him aside with a mighty paw.

The dog was on him now. _Mudtail will make a good leader when I'm gone,_ he thought.

Then the dog closed its teeth around his throat and the world went dark.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Come on, Sunkit! Wake up already! I wanna go play!"

Sunkit grumbled and shoved his littermate, Honeykit, away from him. "Go away," he growled. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Real warriors don't sleep all day!"

Sunkit opened his dark blue eyes. "I'll show you who's a real warrior!" He got up and lunged at Honeykit, pinning her down.

"Say you surrender!"

"Never!"

Honeykit wiggled out of his grasp. "You haven't beat me yet!"

Sunkit growled and tackled her to the ground, squashing her against the grass. "Now I have!" he squeaked.

Their mother, Appleface, purred as she watched them play. "You both are going to make great warriors!"

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." A voice came from behind Appleface.

Appleface turned around, hackles raised. "What makes you so sure, Foxpelt?"

Foxpelt let out a sigh. "You know who their father was," he reminded her.

"They are _nothing_ like their father!"

"Look at them. Fighting each other as though they'd already learned their battle moves. I think perhaps somecat has been paying them a visit. A visit in their dreams, maybe."

Appleface recoiled, horrified. "They have not been training in the Dark Forest! They're just kits!"

"Perhaps, but Moonclaw was a kit once too before he betrayed his clan."

Appleface glared at him. "Foxpelt, my kits are loyal to Windclan! They are not training in the Dark Forest with Moonclaw or any other cat!"

Foxpelt shrugged. "Say what you like, but it won't change the truth."

"The truth is that they are loyal and innocent!"

Throughout the whole argument, Sunkit had been listening. He felt sick to his stomach.

"Sunkit, are you going to play or not?" Sunkit realized that Honeykit was prodding him with a paw.

"Sure," he mumbled, distracted by thoughts of his father.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_What did Moonclaw do?_ wondered Sunkit.

_How does what he did affect me?_

_And what is the Dark Forest?_

Sunkit was lost in thought when he bumped into something.

The elder's den.

"Of course!" he muttered to himself. "The elders'll know!"

He raced into the elder's den, thinking about what questions he was going to ask.

"Hello, Sunkit," Stripetail, a light brown elder, said.

"Hi, Stripetail! Can you tell me a story?"

"Of course, Sunkit. Now, what story would you like to hear?"

"Can you tell me about Moonclaw?"

Stripefur stiffened. "Now, I'm sure you wouldn't like to hear about that-"

"Please, Stripefur, please?"

Stripefur sighed. "I suppose you'll have to learn about it at some point."

And so he began.

"Several seasons ago, Moonkit was born. Now, he seemed _very _promising. He was brave, kind, and smart. Everyone in the clan loved him."

"And then the time came when he was to be an apprentice. His mentor was Gorsebelly, a strong and faithful warrior. He's in Starclan now. Anyway, Moonpaw trained and trained and trained, until, one day, there was a battle."

"Windclan won, of course, and Moonpaw, for some reason, loved the battle. Everyday after that, I could hear him ask Gorsebelly, 'Is there gonna be a battle today? When's the next battle gonna be?' Now, that was odd, but everyone in the clan thought it was because he enjoyed the feeling of victory and that he was simply unusually brave."

"And then he became a warrior. He had a mate, your mother, Appleface, and was going to have kits, as Appleface was expecting. What more could a warrior ask for? Well, Moonclaw was no ordinary warrior. He had dreams of becoming leader of his clan. He was _furious_ when his brother, Longwhisker, became deputy instead."

"Well, I guess he was jealous, 'cause after that, h-he _killed _Longwhisker. He'd killed his own brother! And yet, his plan worked. We didn't know at the time that he was a murderer, so Brightstar named him the deputy. He seemed content, at least for a while."

"But I guess that leadership didn't come quick enough for his own liking, so he tried to kill Brightstar too. He snuck up on her in the middle of the night, and slashed her throat. Well, Brightstar still had three lives left, so she had a tussle with Moonclaw. There was such a racket, the entire clan woke up!"

"After that, Moonclaw was exiled. He swore he'd get his revenge one day, though, and soon enough, two moons later, he was back. He ran into camp with a group of rogues, and attacked. Well, my own sister Dustlight and two other warriors, Greenpelt and Stormcloud, were killed, as well as the medicine cat apprentice, Lightningpaw. But so was Moonclaw an' half of the rogues. The ones that were alive ran outta camp fast as their cowardly legs could carry 'em."

"An' that's 'bout it, Sunkit. Run along, now. Why doncha play with Honeykit?"

Sunkit wasn't listening.

He was the son of a murderer.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_I'm never going to be like Moonclaw. Never!_

Sunkit's head drooped, his eyes dull.

"Sunkit, are you alright?" Sunkit looked up. Appleface was standing over him, a concerned expression on her face.

"No." He slowly padded away.

"Sunkit! Sunkit, over here!"

Sunkit walked away from Honeykit's voice. "I'd rather not," he mumbled.

Honeykit sagged. "Oh. Okay."

Sunkit dragged himself into the nursery.

Stripetail's voice echoed in his head.

_He'd killed his own brother!_

_ He tried to kill Brightstar, too._

_ He ran into camp with a group of rogues, and attacked._

"Sunkit?"

Sunkit buried his face in a pile of moss.

"Leave me alone."

Honeykit took a cautious step forward. "Sunkit, you can tell me anything, you know." She sat down in front of him. "We're littermates, remember? We don't keep secrets from each other."

Sunkit started to walk away. "Ask Stripetail," he muttered.

Honeykit bounded after him, and blocked his path. "I'm not moving until you tell me," she insisted.

Sunkit started to walk around her, but Honeykit yanked him by the tail and dragged him backwards.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he complained.

Honeykit glared at her. "Tell me."

Sunkit sighed. "Our father was a murderer."

Honeykit let out a small squeak. "W-w-what?"

"Ask Stripetail," Sunkit repeated as he started to walk away.

"What he did, it doesn't affect us!"

"Tell that to Foxpelt."

Sunkit walked away, feeling worse that ever.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Sunkit! Guess what?"

Sunkit groaned, and rolled over. "I don't have time for your jokes, Honeykit," he grumbled.

"But it's not a joke! We're gonna be apprentices!"

Sunkit's eyes flew open and he jumped to his feet. "When?" he asked, excited.

"It's at sunhigh!" Honeykit replied happily.

Sunkit ran outside into camp. The sun was barely rising.

"Darn it!" Sunkit lashed his tail. "Sunhigh's gonna be here in, like, _forever_!

"You better go back to sleep, my brave warrior," Appleface murmured.

"Humph," he growled.

"Back to sleep," Appleface repeated.

Sunkit resentfully stomped back into the nursery. He flopped down in the warm nest and shut his eyes. But no matter how hard he tried, Sunkit just couldn't seem to sleep.

Eventually, though, Sunkit grew impatient and went outside. A cool, morning breeze blew across his fur. It was almost sunhigh, and a hunting patrol had just returned.

Adderclaw, Whiskertail, and Leafheart padded into camp, a fat rabbit hanging from each of their jaws. Sunkit's eyes widened. Because he had been born just before leaf-bare, the prey that he had seen so far was old and pitiful, though Sunkit had always been warmed by his mother's milk. These rabbits, however, were plump and young, tender and warm.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather by the Hill for a clan meeting!"

Sunkit jerked his head up, startled. Was it sunhigh already?

Yes it was.

"Today, two young cats have reached the age of six moons."

_She means us!_

"Honeykit and Sunkit, please step forwards."

With trembling legs, Sunkit walked to the base up the hill. "He felt happy, but also nervous. What if Brightstar assigned him a psycho mentor? What if, because of his father, she decided not to make him an apprentice? A million things ran through Sunkit's mind.

Honeykit, however, looked just the opposite. She was jumping and squealing, her eyes shining.

Brightstar jumped down from the Hill and said, "Honeykit, you have reached the age of 6 moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you received your warrior name, you will be known as Honeypaw. Your mentor will be Grayscar. I hope Grayscar will pass down all she knows onto you." Brightstar flicked her tail. "Grayscar, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Leafheart, and you have shown yourself to be determined and brave, and I expect you to pass down all you know to Honeypaw."

Brightstar twitched her ear. Sunkit's heart was beating in his chest.

"Sunkit, you have reached the age of 6 moons, and you are to be an apprentice also. From this day on, until you have received your warrior name, you will be known as Sunpaw. Your mentor will be..."

_I hope it's Scorchfire. Then again, Starlingfrost is pretty good. Sedgefoot is strong, but Cloudfeather is smarter..._

"Foxpelt."

_WHAT?! _The word exploded in Sunpaw's mind. _But Foxpelt...he thought I was like Moonclaw! H-he thought I was evil!_

"WHAT?!" Foxpelt exclaimed.

Brightstar shot him an icy look. "I expect you to train Sunpaw as you would train any other apprentice. His father does not change who he is, nor what he does."

Foxpelt dropped into a defensive crouch, ears flat. "I'm not training that monster!"

There were several audible gasps from the clan.

Foxpelt continued. "He's going to turn out just like Moonclaw, I know it! I am NOT going to train a cat who belongs in the Dark Forest!"

Brightstar glared at him. "If you cannot treat everycat in Windclan as an equal, then you do not deserve to be in a clan."

"I will be perfectly happy as a loner, away from here and from _them!_" he snarled, glaring at Sunpaw and Honeypaw.

"Go!"

Foxpelt ran from the camp, Sunpaw watching his dark red figure grow smaller and smaller, then disappear.

Brightstar took a deep breath. "Sunpaw, your new mentor will be Ashpelt. This meeting is over."

Sunpaw stood, numb with shock.

_How many other cats think that I'm going to be another Moonclaw?_


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"All cats old enough to hunt, gather by the Hill for a clan meeting!" Brightstar's mew filled the air.

"What does she want now?" Harepaw asked grumpily.

Brightstar ignored him. "Today, we claim some of Thunderclan's territory for ourselves!"

Shocked mews filled the air.

"So soon?" mumbled Daisypelt. "Right after we lost Stripetail?"

Sunpaw sighed as he remembered Stripetail; the tom had died the moon before from old age.

"We shall _honor _his memory by making Windclan stronger!" Brightstar yowled. "Shadewing, do we have enough herbs?"

Shadewing, the medicine cat, merely nodded. It was clear that he did not approve of the battle.

"Good," Brightstar growled. "Then tonight, by the light of the half-moon, we shall attack. I would like our newest apprentices to join the attack," she said, waving her tail at Honeypaw and Sunpaw, "Along with Grayscar, Ratpaw, Flowermoon, Rainfeather, Fernpaw, Fallenclaw, Stormstripe, Crowpaw, and Appleface." She swept her green gaze around the cats. "I have faith in all of you."

Excitement coursed through Sunpaw.

_A battle! A real battle!_

Appleface hurried over to Sunpaw and Honeypaw. "Be careful," she whispered.

Sunpaw and Honeypaw nodded.

Sunpaw could hardly wait for night to come. But finally, after hunting, tick-picking, moss-changing, and extra battle training, it came.

Brightstar waved her tail. Sunpaw followed her, along with the other cats. He was aware of Honeypaw next to him on one side, Appleface on the other.

When they arrived at the Thunderclan border, Sunpaw wrinkled up his nose at the stench. _Yuck! _he thought. Sunpaw couldn't get used to the thick undergrowth, either; twigs snapped under his step, and brambles raked his back wherever he went.

Brightstar paused, her gaze scanning the forest. She then let out an earsplitting screech, and motioned with her tail for the others to follow. Twistedfoot, the deputy with one lame paw, let out an eerie caterwaul. Appleface was shrieking and Honeypaw was yowling. Sunpaw took a deep breath, then screeched with all his might.

A group of Thunderclan warriors materialized from the shadows. Their fur was spiked and their ears were flat.

"What are you doing here?" a dark brown tom asked.

Brightstar grinned menacingly. "We are here to expand our territory, Thrushstar."

The Thunderclan cats growled. "Not without a fight!"

And suddenly, the forest exploded with screams and yells. Sunpaw found himself standing right in front of a pale gray she-cat. The she-cat drew her lips back into a snarl.

Sunpaw lunged at her, swiping madly with his paws, and missed. The nimble she-cat had darted right under him, and now she was slashing with her forepaws. Sunpaw tried to duck, but a few blows caught him on the cheek and ear anyway. He hissed at her and managed to rip her ear, but she fought back with scratched nose. Sunpaw rose up on his hind paws and rhythmically slashed at her muzzle. The she-cat ducked and raked her claws down his flank and shoved him down. She jumped on Sunpaw, squashing him, her paws about to plunge into his neck...

"Dovefire!"

The she-cat looked up. A night-black tom towered over her. "Warriors do not kill to win!"

Dovefire hissed. "Looks like it's your lucky day, _kit_," she spat at Sunpaw before haring away to find another victim.

Sunpaw sat up. The black tom had also gone. He suddenly felt the pain of his wounds, and winced.

"APPLEFACE!" Sunpaw jumped to his feet. Appleface? Was something wrong? Did something happen?

Sunpaw raced towards the sound, and found Honeypaw sitting beside Appleface. Appleface, however, was lying down.

"Appleface?" he whispered as he approached. Honeypaw sat glumly beside him. A long wound reached up from Appleface's shoulder to her flank, staining her dark ginger fur red. She was still alive, though.

"Shadewing!" he yelled. The dark gray medicine cat sprinted toward Sunpaw.

Shadewing spat out a mouthful of cobweb and began to press it onto Appleface's cut. "Battles," he muttered. "Useless. What for? Innocent lives lost-"

But before Shadewing could finish speaking, there was a flash of silver, and Shadewing lay on the ground in a pool of blood, his throat slashed open.

"Shadewing!" Sunpaw gasped. Shadewing's eyes were glazed over, his breathing almost nonexistent. Or had it stopped? Sunpaw couldn't tell.

"No!" A new voice shouted. Sunpaw stiffened; it was Bluefrost, Shadewing's apprentice. She had crept up on him.

"Shadewing, don't go," begged Bluefrost. It was useless. He was already gone.

For the first time, Sunpaw looked up. The cat who had killed Shadewing was the very same one who had tried to kill him earlier.

"Dovefire," he growled. Sunpaw sprang at her, only dimly aware of Honeypaw's screams, Appleface's moans, and Bluefrost's sobbing. But before he could attack, he heard Brightstar.

"Windclan, retreat!"

Sunpaw gaped. Retreat? Now?

Yes.

Sunpaw growled and kicked a pebble at his paws, which did not help one bit. Yelping from his stubbed paw, he followed the rest of the clan back home. Stormstripe and Flowermoon carried Appleface, who's bleeding had finally stopped, and Rainfeather and Brightstar carried the body of Shadewing.

Sunpaw followed closely behind spitting with rage.

_Why'd we have to retreat then?_ he thought.

Sunpaw sighed. He had not expected his first battle to be like _this._


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Sunpaw! Wake up!"

Sunpaw groaned. "Wait a...wait a bit..."

Ashpelt hissed. "I can't spend all day waiting for you to get up!"

"Not all day...just a few minutes..."

"WAKE UP!"

"Ahh! Don't do that!" Sunpaw jumped to his feet.

"Good, you're up. Now let's get going," Ashpelt snapped.

Sunpaw sighed and dragged himself out of the apprentice's den. "What are we going to do now?" he asked Ashpelt.

"Battle training."

"Rabbit dung." Sunpaw lashed his tail. "Can't we go hunting instead?" he whined.

"No!" Ashpelt barked. "Sunpaw, I just don't know what to do with you. Ever since the battle...you've been reluctant and grumpy. You're already eight moons old! Act like it!"

"You're already eight moons old! Act like it!" Sunpaw mimicked Ashpelt in a not-so-nice tone.

"I heard that!"

_Ashpelt is the worst mentor ever, _Sunpaw thought. _He's so bossy. _

"Did you hear what I said?"

Sunpaw blinked.

Ashpelt sighed. "Practice the move I just showed you on me."

Sunpaw gulped; he hadn't been listening or watching. "O-okay."

Sunpaw ran at Ashpelt, swiping feebly at his mentor.

Ashpelt glared at him. "That's not what I showed you."

"Aw, can't I try my own battle move?"

"No."

Sunpaw glared at him. "I wish I could have another mentor!" he burst out.

Ashpelt gave Sunpaw a hard look. His green eyes were chips of ice.

"Well, that makes two of us," retorted Ashpelt.

Sunpaw glared at Ashpelt again.

"Would you at least tell me _why _you're so upset?"

"I'm not upset!"

"Is it Appleface?"

A shadow passed across Sunpaw's face. Appleface was alive, but barely. She clung onto life like a beetle onto grass when a flood appears. Bluefrost had done her best, patched her up, but infection had settled in. Death descended upon Appleface like a swarm of wasps, stinging her until she could bear it no longer.

"So what if it is?" growled Sunpaw.

Ashpelt's gaze softened. "I know it's hard," he said sympathetically, "but we must learn to go the direction that fate takes us. Appleface is destined to join Starclan soon."

"But it's unfair!"

"Life's not fair, little one." Ashpelt put his tail on Sunpaw's shoulder.

Sunpaw hesitated, then nodded.

"Now," said Ashpelt, "we have to get back to training. Let's see that forepaw slash."

While Sunpaw's body was in Windclan, his mind was elsewhere, wondering about Appleface and Starclan and fate.

_They wouldn't take her, would they?_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Sunpaw! Do you want to go hunting together?" Honeypaw asked.

"Sure," muttered Sunpaw, distracted.

Honeypaw didn't seem to notice. "Great!" she said enthusiastically. "Bet I can catch more rabbits than you!"

"Uh-huh," mumbled Sunpaw. His mind was elsewhere. Ashpelt's voice came back to him.

_Appleface is destined to join Starclan soon._

Sunpaw wanted to run to the top of the highest hill, and yell out to Silverpelt that it wasn't fair. That they couldn't, just _couldn't,_ take Appleface.

But he knew they wouldn't listen. Sunpaw knew that no matter what, they _would _welcome Appleface to their starry ranks soon. Soon, he and Honeypaw would be left alone in the world.

_Honeypaw. _Why wasn't she sad or angry or anything besides happy? Why was she enjoying her life as Appleface struggled to grab onto it? What was she doing, so casually asking him to hunt and not visiting Appleface?

Honeypaw hadn't visited her mother once.

"Sunpaw? Sunpaw, he-llo!" Honeypaw's voice snapped Sunpaw back to the present. "A hare literally ran right by you and you didn't notice! What's wrong?"

"Everything!" shouted Sunpaw. He flattened his ears. "What are you doing! You leave poor Appleface in the medicine cat's den! You act all happy when she's dying! You don't even care about her!"

For the first time since she'd been out of the nursery, Honeypaw glared at Sunpaw. "Appleface wouldn't like us moping over her! This proves how important life is! We can't waste a second of it!"

"Then at least visit her! Appleface must be thinking that her daughter doesn't care enough about her, she never visited, never talked, didn't ever, _ever, _look at her since that battle!"

Honeypaw fled, racing across the moore. "I wanted to! I really did! But I couldn't! I just-"

"You couldn't?" snarled Sunpaw. "You had so much time. A whole half moon! And you couldn't?"

"I don't care!" yelled Honeypaw as she vanished across the moor. "I don't care about Windclan! Leave me alone!"

Sunpaw stared at her disappearing figure, satisfied for a moment.

Until he remembered that Honeypaw was gone.

Alone, he went back to the camp.

"I'm so sorry, Sunpaw."

Sunpaw looked at Ashpelt.

"We did our best, really. But..." Ashpelt's voice trailed off. He stepped aside.

Appleface was lying in the middle of the camp, and even rosemary and mint could not hide the scent of death on her.


	9. Chapter 8

**Okay, before I begin...**

**A/N**

**Frozenstream Of Oakclan: Thanks!**

**Emily0130: Thanks!**

**PikaBolt101: Thanks! The reason I don't do long chapters is because I am used to writing short stories, by the way.**

Chapter 8

"Appleface...no..." Sunpaw moaned. He buried his face in his mother's dark ginger fur. Appleface didn't even smell like herself. Yes, there was the mint and rosemary, but there was something else...something much worse.

Death.

Sunpaw flung his head back and howled. "Why, Starclan, why?"

Cats gathered around their fallen clanmate. Brightstar and Twistedfoot groomed her fur. Bluefrost closed her warm blue eyes, never to be seen again. Ashpelt and countless others gathered around her.

Sunpaw let out another eerie wail. "Starclan, how could you be so cruel?"

There was movement by the camp entrance. And suddenly, Honeypaw was beside him.

"Honeypaw," Sunpaw spat out.

Honeypaw licked Appleface's cold fur. "I-I heard someone wailing, so I thought that something terrible happened. I came...I came back straight away."

Sunpaw groaned. "Appleface, please don't leave us!"

Even as he spoke, he felt fur brushing against his, and the faint scent of Appleface wreathed around him.

"Don't worry." Sunpaw could swear someone was whispering in his ear. Someone who sounded a lot like Appleface. "I will never truly leave you."

Sunpaw buried his face in his paws. "Appleface..."

There was a loud yowl. Sunpaw ignored it. It sounded exactly like the whimpers of grief from his clanmates.

He shouldn't have ignored it.

Suddenly, there were claws on him, claws shoving him down into the grass. The claws sliced at his shoulder. Sunpaw shrieked with pain.

He could tell by the grunts and yells that other cats were being attacked too. Sunpaw struggled against his attacker. It didn't do anything.

After several futile attempts, Sunpaw went limp, hoping that the cat on him would loosen his grip.

It didn't work.

"I'm not falling for that, _kit,_" hissed a voice in his ear. A voice that sounded horribly, undeniably familiar.

The voice belonged to Dovefire.

"Get _off_!" Sunpaw managed to squirm out of her grip. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Repeating history, of course." Another voice. It sounded like Thrushstar. "Invading the Windclan camp."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Brightstar snarled.

Thrushstar lunged at her, pinning her down. "Same concept, different purpose. Today, we aim to gain territory." Thrushstar's yellow eyes glowed. "Not like in the past."

Brighstar struggled, managing to flip Thrushstar over. They fought, Brightstar landing a blow so hard on Thrushstar that Sunpaw winced, and Thrushstar raking his claws down her flank.

Then Sunpaw was on the ground again. "Pay attention next time, _kit_." Dovefire hissed in his ear. The she-cat had lunged on him while he wasn't looking. "Manage that, and you might live to become a warrior."

"Let me go!" Sunpaw yowled. He looked around desperately for help. Honeypaw was facing a Thunderclan warrior twice her size, Ashpelt was screeching with pain as two Thunderclan warriors attacked him, and everyone else was fighting against at least one warrior.

"Enjoy your last moments, _kit_." Dovefire dug her claws into his cheek. Sunpaw could only watch as she prepared to kill him. Dovefire glared at him. "Are you really Moonclaw's son?" she laughed. "You look like a piece of fresh-kill that's been run over by a monster." Dovefire let out a disdainful snort. "You're not a fighter. Never will be. Moonclaw would've disowned you if he'd been alive right now."

There it was again. Moonclaw.

"I'm not Moonclaw!" Sunpaw shrieked.

" 'Course you're not. Moonclaw was a fighter. An honorable warrior."

Sunpaw stared at Dovefire, aghast. _She really thinks Moonclaw was amazing!_

"You're evil," he hissed.

Dovefire grinned. "It doesn't matter if I am. You're still going to Starclan."

Sunpaw squeezed his eyes shut, calling out for somebody, _anybody,_ to help him.

Nobody came.

Then, there was a screech. Sunpaw opened his eyes. Dovefire was off of him. The cat who had told her off earlier in the last battle was now glaring at her.

"Dovefire!"

Dovefire needed no other warning. She hared away.

"Coward," muttered Sunpaw, though he was actually very happy that she was gone.

Sunpaw looked around. To his relief, no warriors were on the ground, and Honeypaw and Ashpelt were now fighting side by side, fending off an enormous brown warrior.

"Thunderclan, RETREAT!" Thrushstar boomed. The Thunderclan warriors sped off after their leader, but not before shooting dirty looks and ice-cold glares at the Windclan cats.

"Are you okay?" Sunpaw looked up and found that Ashpelt was talking to him.

Sunpaw hesitated. He watched the fading forms of the Thunderclan warriors race away.

"Yeah," he decided.

Ashpelt smiled. "That's good, then."

Sunpaw looked up at his mentor. "Do you know Dovefire?" he asked. Ashpelt nodded. "She's absolutely _crazy_. I won't be surprised if she goes to the Dark Forest."

Sunpaw was about to ask another question when he heard a low, terrible, moan. He spun around. Brighstar was on the ground. The white fur around her neck was bloodied. Sunpaw watched as she groaned in pain again.

Then she was still.

Sunpaw stiffened. "W-what's happened to Brightstar?"

Bluefrost replied, "She's losing a life."

Sunpaw felt a rush of hatred, hatred for Thunderclan and their cowardly attacks.

And now, he wanted revenge.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Sunpaw, I'd like you to go to the Gathering."

Sunpaw stopped grooming himself and stared in astonishment at his leader. "Me?" he asked, surprised and pleased all at once. Brightstar nodded. "You too, Honeypaw," she meowed.

Sunpaw shot a look of hate at his sister. He still hadn't forgiven her for not visiting Appleface. Actually, Sunpaw even _blamed _Honeypaw for Appleface's death.

_If she had visited Appleface...then maybe, just maybe, Appleface could've hung on a bit longer._

"Sunpaw? Sunpaw, are you coming or not?!" Sunpaw snapped out of his daydream and as Brightstar beckoned him impatiently with her tail. "We're leaving now."

Sunpaw nodded, slightly distracted. "Okay."

They started along the path that led to the island, where the Gathering was held. The stench of the twoleg-place that they were crossing made Sunpaw wrinkle up his nose. "Eugh," he snarled.

The horse-place was even worse. Huge animals with rock hard hooves. Filling the air with the stench of dung and wet, matted fur.

This was because it was raining.

"Haven't we got enough water in our lives?"muttered Honeypaw.

"It's the third day in a row that it's rained," agreed Twistedfoot.

"What if Starclan covers up the moon with clouds?" fretted Daisypelt.

Sunpaw sighed. _And what if a flying porcupine destroys the clans? Geez, the cats worry too much!_

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at the island. A narrow tree trunk led from the shore to the island.

"Careful," Ashpelt murmured in his ear, "it's slippery here. Be sure to grip the tree trunk tightly. Wouldn't do to have you fall into the water, after all." Sunpaw nodded, nervous.

When it was his turn to cross, Sunpaw dug his claws into the soft, flexible, bark. The rain made everything hard to see, blurring his eyesight and making the smooth surface of the tree easy to slide on. Sunpaw narrowed his eyes, then lunged across the tree, wanting to get it over with.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. Right when Sunpaw was about to reach the island, he claws slipped as someone shoved him aside. He tumbled into the water.

"Ahh!" Sunpaw flailed in the water, legs splashing the crystal-clear surface, distorting the reflections. "Help me! I'm going to drown!"

"Stand up, you stupid, idiotic, pathetic, lazy mouse-brained excuse for a cowardly furball." Sunpaw blinked. He had never heard so many insults in one sentence. It could only be one cat.

"What are you doing here, Dovefire?" Sunpaw spat. The sleek, silver-furred she-cat grinned. "Why, attending the Gathering, of course," she said, looking at him innocently.

Sunpaw growled. "Why don't you just-" He was interrupted as screeches of surprise came from the cats.

Sunpaw swung his head around. "W-what's happening?" he asked.

"There's a whole den of foxes on the island!"

Instantly Sunpaw was alert, jumping to his paws. To his embarrassment, he found that the water really was shallow enough to stand up in.

"There's more of us than them," growled a cat Sunpaw didn't recognize.

"We can take 'em!" Honeypaw shouted.

"Quiet!" Sunpaw recognized Thrushstar's gruff mew. "Let the leaders decide!"

"Of course, o great Thrushstar," said Brightstar, rolling her eyes. "Let only _four _leaders decide when there are a vast quantities of highly intelligent warriors nearby!"

"We should attack," mewed Thrushstar, ignoring Brightstar completely. "Then, ten warriors flank the right side of the foxes-"

"ATTACK!" It was clear that Shadowclan had not been listening at all; a dark, reddish-brown tom led the way as warriors pounced on the foxes, clawing at them.

'Windclan agrees with Shadowclan," said Brighstar. And Windclan charged at the foxes too.

Thrushstar looked furious. "Whatever happened to the plan?" he said hotly. "I thought we were going to-"

"RIVERCLAN, FORWARD!" Riverclan's leader, a small brown tabby she-cat, ran at the foxes, warriors with sleek, shining pelts right behind her. Pretty soon, all of the cats (who clearly agreed with Windclan, Shadowclan, Riverclan, and NOT Thunderclan), were attacking the foxes. The only cat who wasn't fighting was Thrushstar, who was glaring at his warriors.

Sunpaw had never felt so alive in his life. He slashed at one fox, then ducked under as it swung a huge paw at him. The rain didn't seem to exist. He pounced and yowled at clawed, his clanmates right behind him.

It was like all the cats were one clan. No one cared that Moonclaw was Sunpaw's father, either. They moved as one, driving the foxes back. Pretty soon, all the foxes ran, yipping and howling, occasionally pausing to lick a wound.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Honeypaw was practically floating, she was so elated. "We beat them! Uh-huh! Who beat the foxes? We did! Cats! Clan cats! Warriors!"

Brightstar smiled. "You were wonderful!" she said, beaming.

"We all were, Brightstar," the Riverclan leader said.

"Of course, Mallowstar," said Brightstar warmly. She raised her voice so that all the cats could hear her, then with a few quick pulls, dragged herself onto the enormous tree. "Cats of all clans!" she yowled. "Tonight, we have been brought together by an old enemy!" She paused. "But we must still continue on with the Gathering. Shadowclan, what news do you have?"

The red-brown tom dipped his head politely before sweeping his gaze over the cats gathered below. "We have had two new apprentices," he annouced, "Owlpaw and Amberpaw."

"Owlpaw! Amberpaw!" Sunpaw chanted the new apprentices' names. He managed to catch a glimpse of them, hanging out with other Shadowclan cats. The ginger one (Sunpaw assumed he was Amberpaw), was beaming with pride. Sunpaw noticed that Amberpaw was sitting near the medicine cats.

The dark gray tom, Owlpaw, however, looked nervous and shy. He kept his head down, and his fur, Sunpaw could see, was being forced flat.

Sunpaw had been concentrating on the apprentices, and he missed part of Shadowclan's report.

"...We lost one of our queens, Stormlight, while she was kitting, and one of her kits, which her mate named Cloudkit. Aside from that, nothing has gone wrong on Shadowclan territory, and prey is plentiful," finished the Shadowclan leader.

There were sympathetic mews all around, most of them, Sunpaw noticed, directed at a young white tom. Sunpaw guessed that he was Stormlight's mate.

Brightstar dipped her head. "Thank you, Pinestar. I'm sorry about Stormlight and her kit." Brightstar's gaze glimmered with sadness. "Now Windclan will speak. Flowermoon has kitted two kits, Mudkit and Dapplekit. One of our warriors, Appleface, died," she said, sighing softly, "but we are otherwise in good condition. However," she growled, glaring at Thrushstar as she spoke, "Windclan were attacked in their camp as they were mourning for the brave warrior." Brightstar snarled at Thrushstar, spitting with rage, as Shadowclan and Riverclan gasped. "It was completely unprovoked! Cowardly! Elders and kits, attacked in their nests, grieving for Appleface, or sleeping." Brightstar was giving Thunderclan a cold, hard look, her yellow eyes narrowed. "The fox-hearted little-"

"Now, now, Brightstar," soothed the Riverclan leader, Mallowstar.

"THEY ATTACKED US WHILE-"

"Brightstar! Stop! That's enough!" Mallowstar's stern words seemed to jerk Brightstar back to reality.

"Are you done?" asked Mallowstar. Brightstar nodded, eyes narrowed, glaring at Thunderclan.

"Then Riverclan will start. Twolegs have been sighted, but none of them have come close to us. We have three new apprentices, Streampaw, Minnowpaw, and Skypaw." Mallowstar waited as the clans chanted out their names. Then she continued, "The fish are fat and plentiful."

All this time, Thrushstar had been waiting for his turn, to defend himself and his clan. "Thunderclan's turn," he announced. "We have had one new warrior, Willowfoot."

The clans were silent. Sunpaw could see that a dark brown she-cat at the front of the crowd, in Thunderclan, droop with disappointment.

Thrushstar continued, seemingly unaware of the awkward silence. "One elder died, Stonestep, and the prey is running well."

"Don't you have anything else to say?" hissed Twistedfoot. "Like how Thunderclan attacked Windclan?"

Thrushstar ignored him. "This Gathering is over."

Windclan grumbled as they climbed across the tree-bridge. Sunpaw went home with the rest of his clanmates, then stumbled to the apprentice's den.

"What happened at the Gathering?" asked Ratpaw as Sunpaw climbed into his nest. "Ask Honeypaw," he yawned.

Sunpaw tried to go to sleep, but he kept wondering.

_We were fine at first, when the foxes appeared. We drove them together. But then...then things changed. Why do the clans change so much?_

It rained on.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Thunderclan has crossed the border!"

Sunpaw looked up from the crow he was eating.

"What?!" Brightstar exclaimed.

"By the lake," panted Rainfeather. "They were stealing prey too. Our prey!"

Brightstar paced back and forth. "Never have tensions been so high within the clans," she muttered. "Thunderclan just attacked us...is Thrushstar looking for trouble?"

Rainfeather replied impatiently. "Yes, yes, but we're in a hurry, Brightstar. What do you want to to do?"

Brightstar nodded. "A patrol should take care of them...Sunpaw," she added. Sunpaw looked surprised. "I think it's time to test your battle skills. Honeypaw too...Along with Ratfang, Grayscar, Featherflame, and Ashpelt. Rainfeather, you'll have to come, you know where they are...that should deal with them...Twistedfoot, you'll be coming too...I won't, though...I'm not feeling too well...Bluefrost, prepare your herbs. Oh, nearly forgot...Hailheart, why don't you come too? Daisypelt...Fallenclaw too, just to be safe. And Stormstripe is one of our best warriors... I think that should be it."

Before she had even finished speaking, however, the patrol was off.

"Not exactly on top of things, is she?" remarked Ratfang.

Twistedfoot looked over his shoulder. "Brightstar's getting old. If she wasn't a clan leader, she'd have retired to the elder's den moons ago."

"She _is_ rather slow," said Grayscar.

Twistedfoot looked at them sharply. "You _do not_ talk about your clan leader like that."

Grayscar harrumphed.

"We're here," announced Rainfeather suddenly. The large patrol stopped. Sure enough, Sunpaw could see several Thunderclan warriors stalking a thrush on Windclan territory. Sunpaw grew hot with anger when he realized that Dovefire was among them.

"Thunderclan!" Twistedfoot shouted. "What are you doing on Windclan territory?"

Dovefire stepped forward. Her face was twisted into a cruel smile. "Windclan? Oh, not anymore. This is now _Thunderclan _territory."

"Never!" Twistedfoot threw himself upon Dovefire. Hissing with disgust, the silver she-cat thre him off. "Too easy!" she crowed.

And suddenly, all the cats surged against one another. Sunpaw found himself facing a tortoiseshell she-cat. Sunpaw growled and bit the she-cat's paw. The she-cat snarled and slashed his muzzle.

Then the tortoiseshell she-cat was thrown aside. "Go find someone else to fight, you bratty kit," Doverfire hissed at her clanmate.

Dovefire grinned. "Say goodbye, _kit_."

Sunpaw shrieked and raked his claws down Dovefire's back. Dovefire howled with pain and sliced at Sunpaw's cheek. She darted under him, making Sunpaw stumble, and ripped at his belly. Screeching with pain, Sunpaw bit down hard on Dovefire's tail. Dovefire rose up and ripped at his ears. Sunpaw shrieked and was about to slice open Dovefire's nose when _he was lifted up into the air._

Smooth, hairless twoleg paws had grabbed Sunpaw. He saw that Dovefire was grabbed too, by a twoleg kit, and Honeypaw was screeching and hissing as an adult twoleg scooped her up.

They carried them to a monster. Sunpaw eyed it warily. It looked asleep, at least for now, however.

"Sunpaw! Honeypaw!" Sunpaw and Honeypaw turned. Their clanmates were chasing after them, as was Thunderclan.

"Dovefire!" Thunderclan shrieked.

"Help!" wailed Sunpaw. "Help!"

"I'm stuck with _kits_!" hissed Dovefire.

"Stay put!" yelled Rainfeather. "We'll get you!"

The twolegs somehow opened the monster. They climbed inside it's smooth, black pelt. Honeypaw screeched. "Don't leave us! Help!"

The monster growled, then started running. It moved along a thick, black thunderpath.

Ashpelt screeched as he ran in front of the monster. "Let them go!" he shouted. "You filthy-"

"NO, ASHPELT, NO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Ashpelt ignored Sunpaw. The monster didn't seem to slow. Ashpelt hesitated, then leapt away.

He was a whisker too late.

"Ashpelt!"

The monster collided with Ashpelt's side, then, without pausing, sped away. Sunpaw could only watch as Ashpelt rolled aside, blood caking his dappled gray pelt.

"Ashpelt," whimpered Sunpaw.

"We've got more troubles, kit," hissed Dovefire.

Sunpaw looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Dovefire glared at him. "The twolegs are taking us to be kittypets. And wherever they're taking us, it's far away."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sunpaw had never felt so helpless in his life.

He was being taken away by a monster, he was stuck in that monster with his worst enemy, Dovefire, one of his clanmates was hurt or possibly dead, and he was looking at a life as a kittypet.

Things were bad.

"This is all your fault, _kit_," spat Dovefire.

Sunpaw glared at her. "_My _fault?! Who crossed the border in the first place?"

Dovefire was about to reply when the monster stopped. The twolegs somehow managed to open the monster, and then they grabbed Sunpaw, Honeypaw, and Dovefire and stepped out.

Sunpaw took a look at the huge twoleg house looming over him. His new home.

The twolegs walked up to the shelter on their long, hairless hind legs. One of them made a strange sound to the others, then pressed against something round and white at the front of the shelter.

Instantly, the thing made a tinkling kind of noise that sounded slightly like birdsong. Sunpaw racked his brains to see if he knew anything about it...Flowermoon, a former kittypet, had told him about something like this...the belldoor or doorbell or something like that.

An old twoleg swung open a large wooden..._thing, _(_A door_, Sunpaw remembered from friendly chats with Flowermoon) and gestured for the twolegs to come in.

When the old twoleg caught a glimpse of Sunpaw, Honeypaw, and Dovefire, he made an angry sort of sound.

"Do you know what they're saying?" murmured Honeypaw. Sunpaw shook his head, having learned no other words from Flowermoon, but Dovefire hissed something that sounded a lot like "yes".

"You do?" asked Sunpaw, excited. "What are they doing? Where are we? What is this place? Why is that twoleg upset? Why did they take us here? What-"

"Shut up, _kit_," snarled Dovefire. "I never said that I was going to answer your silly, pathetic questions."

"But you have to!" protested Sunpaw. "Or else we'll all be stuck here forever-"

"I don't have to do anything," growled Dovefire.

There was an uncomfortable silence in which the twolegs carried all three cats in.

Sunpaw was amazed. The kittypets were tougher than he thought. Why would anycat waste time being cooped up in this miserable old thing, with soft, fuzzy stuff on the floor and large, squashy shapes all around? There was no fresh air, even. Sunpaw could see that no one here drank the fresh, clear water from sparkling streams either near the Windclan border, nor had anyone here ever tasted a freshly caught rabbit.

"Hello! What're cats like you doing here?" The unfamiliar voice caused Sunpaw to spin around. A large, plump, friendly-looking dark gray tom blinked at him, eyes shining with innocence.

"Er-" Sunpaw was interrupted as Dovefire leapt on the tom, eyes blazing with fury. "You idiot!" she shrieked while clawing large tufts of fur out of the tom's pelt. "What are _you _doing here, asking us dumb questions?! Get us out! _Now!_" Sunpaw was frozen with horror as Dovefire started shredding the tom's ear. "Answer me! ANSWER ME! Get us out! Are you deaf? If you're not, you will be, by the time I've finished with you!" Dovefire slashed through the tom's ear, while the tom screeched with pain. "Get us out of here!" Sunpaw wanted to help, but he couldn't. He was rooted to the spot, and it seemed that Honeypaw was too.

Meanwhile, Dovefire continued ripping the tom apart. Sunpaw glanced at the twolegs, silently begging them to save the tom, to swoop down and pick up Dovefire, to pick up _all _of them and take them out, to stop Dovefire from killing the poor tom.

"Tell...us...how...to...get...OUT! How to get back to the lake!" The tom wailed in agony as Dovefire slashed at his unprotected, soft belly with her sharpened claws, turning his gray fur dark red. "This is all your fault! If you warned us, tried to get us out of this filthy twoleg den, you wouldn't be in this position, and we would all be free! Show us the way out, or I'll kill you!"

Dovefire's screeching must have alerted the twolegs, because they turned around, and with horrified yells, ran forward and tugged Dovefire off the gray tom. One of the twolegs whacked Dovefire on the nose, which was an unwise move. The twoleg shrieked with pain as Dovefire raked her claws down the twoleg's long, smooth leg.

"Back off, twoleg," she spat.

The gray tom was being tended to by the other twolegs, who were gently stroking him. One of them picked up something smooth and thin, and began to press on it. It began to emit a funny sort of beeping sound. _Has Flowermoon mentioned that before? _wondered Sunpaw. It came back to him in an instant. _Twolegs have these thin, weird little things called phones, _the ex-kittypet had said.

The gray tom shivered in his twoleg's arms. "Sh-she...she j-just attacked me...c-crazy l-l-loony cat..."

"I'm really sorry about that," said Sunpaw.

"N-not your f-fault...d-dumb sh-sh-she-cat..."

"Best the apology comes from somecat, though," replied Sunpaw. "Dovefire won't be saying sorry to you anytime soon."

"L-l-l-loony, c-c-crazy sh-she-cat, that D-D-Dove...Dovefire...absolutely o-off h-h-her r-r-rock...off her rocker..."

"Off her rocker?" asked Sunpaw. "What's that?"

"I-i-it's a t-term m-m-my housefolk u-use...means crazy..."

"Housefolk?"

"T-twolegs..."

"Quit stammering," cut in Honeypaw impatiently.

"Y-you try b-being attacked b-by...b-b-by _h-her..._"

"Oh, so I'm a her now?" interrupted Dovefire with a snarl.

"Budge off, Dovefire," muttered Honeypaw.

"C-c-c-c'mon, l-let's go," murmured the tom. The tom pointed at a small door. "Th-that's where w-we can g-g-g-get away from D-D-Dovefire..."

Sunpaw and Honeypaw followed the tom to the door, leaving Dovefire and her fierce glare behind them. The gray tom shoved open the door, and they all crawled inside.

It was a small room. The floor was littered with gray fur, and drenched in the tom's scent. "M-my home," said the tom.

"Cool," lied Sunpaw. The tom beamed for the first time. "Yeah, it's great. And no...no Dovefire.."

"Finally stopped stammering," muttered Honeypaw. The tom ignored her. "My name's...er...well...my housefolk call me Fluffy, but my mother named me Stormy. I'd like to go with my real, first name. But that's enough about me. What are your names?"

"I'm Sunpaw," said Sunpaw. "And that's Honeypaw. We come from Windclan."

"Windclan?"

"Cats who live by the lake, who promise to uphold the warrior code, who fight and hunt and patrol together," explained Honeypaw.

One look at Stormy's face told Sunpaw that he understood nothing more than the "living by the lake" part.

"Sounds...nice..." said Stormy at last.

"Well," meowed Sunpaw. "Do you know where that lake is? So you can help us get back?"

Stormy looked thoughtful. "I haven't been three tail-lengths farther from my home. But the cat next door, Hal, he had a mate from one of your...clan thingies."

"Forbidden love?" murmured Honeypaw. "Well, it's worth a try."

"Try to get out at night," advised Stormy. "That's when my housefolk are sleeping."

"Okay," agreed Sunpaw.

"We'll go tonight."


End file.
